I Made the King

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

Re-reading aCoK, we (me, books, and our parents) recently read the part where Sophos shoots the ambassador.  He mentions that the gun kicks to the left/right (sorry, I don't remember which at the moment ...)  and so he only grazed Akratenesh instead of hitting him full on and killing him.

So my question is this: Did Gen intend the gun to kick out?  Therefore scaring/wounding the enemy without actually killing them?

When we were discussing it, my dad says, "You have to remeber how guns were made," impling that they weren't paticularly acurate.  But Sophos was able to kill Hanatkos.  The guns did work.  So I think Gen didn't mind, even actively wanted his gun to be less than perfect.  (Or he was banking on the fact that Sophos wouldn't practice with it, creating the same effect)

What say you?

Comments

[booksrgood4u.livejournal.com]

Alrighty, here's what I think - though you already know it, Bookworm, and that's why you posted this in the first place! ;P

I think that Gen did not mean for the gun to kick for a couple of reasons:

1. Gen knew that was the only way Sophos could gain control over the baron's meet. Both as an overlord and a friend, I beleive Gen would want to send him with the best possible weapons to acheive that end.

2. I know that Gen hates killing people and all, but when he need to use his sword he wants a sword that works and he himself keeps up his training so he can use the sword to the best of his ability. Nothing defective about Gen's swordwork, that's for sure!

So, bottom line, I think it was a lucky manufacturing fluke.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

;p Yes, I know your opinion, but I thought it would make an interesting discussion ;p

1. You're right, Gen would only want the best for Sophos, especially as a friend, so if he could have given Sophos a canon that would have fit in his pocket, he would have.

2. Only show offey sword work will do for Gen!! :)

[ladraove.livejournal.com]

I always thought that the gun hadn't been meant to kick. Gen obviously realized that Sophos had to do what he did - that's why Gen's gift was the gun, after all. And if that was Gen's advice, then I think he would have wanted the gun to be perfect so that Sophos would be able to do what was necessary. But, as you mentioned, gunmaking technology wasn't what it is today. That's just always how I interpreted it.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

Gen did see it as the only solution, as much as he didn't like it, so he would want Sophos to do what was neccesary, and quickly too... it was just a luckly fluke.

Thanks!! :)

[keestone.livejournal.com]

I think it's down to the vagaries of the manufacturing and relative accuracy of guns made in the equivalent time period. If I remember correctly, the problem of accuracy is mentioned in The Thief, with the Queen's Rifles which were a tradeoff of impressiveness for accuracy. And that's rifles over pistols. But then, the point of the pistols is that they fit in hidden pockets.

Also, there's no way Gen would purposefully make an inaccurate weapon when that could mean killing someone nearby instead of the actual danger.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

Your point about the danger of killing someone other than the actual danger definetly points to Gen wanting an accurate weapon ... But with all his practice, Sophos did manage to pull off both accuracy AND impressiveness when he shot Hanatkos, but he had planned it all morning with a gun he knew very well.

Thanks!! :)

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

I agree with the previous commenters, but also -- I think there's no way Eugenides could control for that. The gun may not always kick in the same direction. Even if it did always buck left, he couldn't know how precisely Sophos would aim and fire - perhaps his idiosyncrasies would have corrected for the kick. And then, even if it was planned, like keestone said, there's a risk of hitting someone else instead. Especially since the accuracy range of an 'accurate' pistol from those days was fairly large, so that the accuracy range for an intentionally inaccurate pistol would be quite a deal larger - or at least more skewed.

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

In case it makes people nervous, that deleted comment above was me - I never remember that you can edit things now, so I just delete and replace them when I make mistakes.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

If guns weren't accurate in the first place, it would be torture to try to "intentionally" make it buck, so Gen couldn't create a gun that would do that, and it would certainly make it much more dangerous to those around the intended target - could you imagine if he had accidentally shot one of his supporters instead of Hanatkos???

Thanks!! :)

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

The reason he killed Hanaktos and not the ambassador was that he'd practiced extensively with Attolia's gun, which he used to shoot Hanaktos, but not Gen's, which he'd only seen at the last minute. Since he didn't get a chance to practice with it, he couldn't compensate for its quirks. Even modern guns have recoil issues, though not nearly as bad.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

It was a lucky case of using Attolia's gun which he had practiced with when he needed to be precise, and that he pulled Gen's gun out of his other pocket when he really needed to miss!!

Thanks!! :)

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Did Gen even know who Sophos might shoot with the gun? Or, was it just for Sophos to straighten out his role and which barons were loyal? Shooting Hanaktos was probably a given, in Gen's mind and Attolia's, too, but no one really could foresee that the ambassador would push things to that point, right?

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

You're right, Gen NEVER expected Sophos to shoot the Mede Ambassador. ("You shot the ambassador?" "You gave me the gun" Love that scene !! :) And they both knew that without certain people dead, Sophos would most likely be dead sooner or later.

Thanks!! :)

[heiros-acumen.livejournal.com]

Everyone keeps talking about luck-but remember: this is a world where the gods are heavily influential. I think luck had little to do with it.

[1221bookworm.livejournal.com]

I think you got it!! There was no way to plan for a perfect gun, or an imperfect one, but knowing the chaos that would result if Akretenesh was killed, the gods made sure it was enough to startle him without actually killing him, thus immediate disaster avoided, and long-term damage minimzed!!

Thanks for the Great Post!! :)